True and false (15-08-23)
True or false?
Talking pigeons with sports companions, it can be fun, sometimes less so. You hear great wisdom, huge nonsense and sometimes you don't know what to think. It is also striking how opinions can differ. Sometimes when arguing off.
LOCKED?
For example, in reports you sometimes read something like 'in the moulting period the medicine cabinet is locked here'. This is of course motivated by the fear that the moulting will not go as well if pigeons are given medication to swallow at the same time. In practice, however, there is little sign of this. Against paratyphoid, especially with Baytril, is even generally cured in the molting period.
And other drugs? Do you have to say off? I have my doubts. Suppose the pigeons have severe coccidiosis, or cabker or worms or whatever. You don't let them 'walk' with that for a day too long. It would only make things worse.
Therefore, my doubts whether those people 'with the medicine cabinet locked' see it correctly.
FULL MOON
You also sometimes hear and read about fanciers who think that you will breed more good pigeons if you pair with a full moon.
To my surprise, this includes even good fanciers. Don't know what brings them to those thoughts, but to me that's nonsense. I can't think of any argument that would support this view.
GROUP RELEASES
In the past, people sometimes expressed scorns about all those group releases in the Netherlands. Now it seems to have blown over to Belgium. Especially, or almost only, on shorter flights.
At the same station, releases are sometimes carried out at 10 different times. The intention is, of course, noble: Fewer losses and a better distribution of prizes. Only, I don't believe any of it.
If pigeons have a limited area as their destination after release, they will stay together longer. And being wrong in large numbers, especially more inexperienced youngsters. It happened that a fancier got about 15 pigeons together at home who won the 15 first prizes. They had broken free from a huge scrap that came right over his house.
Winning the first 15 prizes would indicate super form, but that turned out to be little the case the following week. Then they performed very poorly. It was a group release.
SHORT AND LONG
Some years ago Willem de Bruijn and me regularly drove into Belgium. It's also a matter of sniffing out a different pigeon culture. It was noticeable that we mainly got longer pigeons with fanciers who played (large) long distance.
Pigeons with longer wings and longer sternum. The latter would indicate more muscles. According to some, this dichotomy (long and short pigeons) also plays a role in the weather, more specifically the wind direction.
You should have ‘short’ pigeons in flights with a headwind, pigeons with a longer physique and therefore longer wings would be better with tailwinds and therefore higher speeds.
In my opinion, this view relates too much to the cycling fellow man. Or more specifically the gears on his bike and with that the number of pedaling movements.
If the view 'longer pigeons better on the long distance' and 'short checkered pigeons' is better endorsed by numerous examples from practice, with regard to a possible relationship between physique and wind direction, there are no or much fewer of these examples. Quite the opposite.
Plenty of examples of pigeons with a somewhat longer physique that perform well with head winds and of short-built pigeons that excelled with tail wind.
BARLEY AND HEMP/KEMP SEED
There are quite a few prejudices about barley and hemp. Barley would be good for purifying pigeons, whatever that means, because it would be easily digestible.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Especially in the past you could also read that by feeding them barley pigeons would not fatten and that it would calm down. Practice shows otherwise. Have seen very fatty pigeons that only got barley. Also pigeons that fuck like rabbits with only barley on the menu.
However, it seems to be extremely healthy food, that they eat it reluctantly, only if there is nothing else, does not detract from it.
Dirk van Dijck, who died far too young, was a big proponent of barley and where could you see healthier pigeons than in his loft?
And kemp seed?
In my younger years, I often drove to the feed farmer for kemp seed (hemp). Pigeons would mate faster because of it, you could read everywhere. Until my greatest teacher in pigeon racing, empiricism, taught me differently.
Once, by stupid coincidence, some of my pigeons did not get kemp seed before the breeding season. I did not notice any distinction and I was fed up of those so-called inciting seeds.
APPLE CIDER. VINEGAR AND GARLIC
Every so many years there is some kind of fad. A few years ago, that was apple cider vinegar. This would keep you ahead of the 'young pigeon disease' (Adeno/Coli).
Apple cider vinegar became the fashion, copy cats everywhere.
But soon most of them knew better. Maybe apple cider vinegar wasn't wrong, but Coli/Adeno didn't stay ahead of you. With what? "With nothing," said specialist vets speaking from experience. And yet that 'young pigeon disease' is no longer the ailment it used to be. Because of that combi injection from Eastern Europe perhaps?
RATS
A young veterinarian who is committed to our sport said that it is a misunderstanding that rats cause paratyphoid fever in pigeons.
They can spread it if they have previously been infected by pigeons. That Baytril is THE solution for paratyphoid fever is also not true.
Veterinarian (also long distance champion) Stijn Rans opened my eyes.
MEGA LOFTS
You often hear about so-called mega lofts that they can only perform thanks to quantity and not quality.
With equal weapons, the mob fliers would not dare to compete. And then something follows like 'look how badly he would have played with only 15 pigeons.' And one refers to the few prizes won of the 15 first nominated.
However, you can't count like that. After all, after the favorites, the pigeons are randomly caught by those people when basketing. So the 98th nominated might as well have been the 9th nominated.
And then there's something else. Maintaining and playing such a mass of racers, breeders, youngsters and feeder pigeons is an expensive affair.
That can only be afforded by many because they can also sell pigeons. And why can they sell? Because they have quality birds. Making money with junk is not really difficult. But that will often be short-lived. Also because people have a mouth.